Apple has finally given a public nod to OpenStreetMap, almost two months after it began using OSM's mapping data within iPhoto for iOS. The OpenStreetMap team tweeted about the change on Thursday evening, noting that the app, which was updated earlier this week with relatively minor fixes, quietly gained an OSM mention in the credits.

Finally.

Makes the point that Google has helped OpenStreetMap, and concludes:

Google is just an organisation like every other organisation; they’re not exempt from the rule that if you aren’t careful, self-serving managers will rise to the top, where a personal agenda or reaching this or that far-fetched goal to boast your manager creds might be more important than doing the right thing. It is good of us to watch Google, and to elbow them in the ribs every now and then. But in the grand scheme of things – in the whole “crowd-sourced hive-mind world-wide collective vs. government-and-business-controlled data cathedrals” arena – Google is on the same side as we are. More so, perhaps, than a couple other organisations who vie for our affection.

That service being Google Maps (Larry Page described it thus in his letter to shareholders last week):

If enough location-based services start intermingling with OpenStreetMap, there will be a significant divide between those and the ones built on Google's proprietary service - and Microsoft and Bing will be on the open side. But Apple will be the most interesting company to watch here. Its ultimate decision about open versus proprietary map data will have big ripple effects for app developers.

Microsoft is a patron of OpenStreetMap, which remains an independent foundation.

Cutting to the interesting bit of this mobile application:

Previous versions of our application used Google Maps for the nearby view. This has now been replaced with OpenStreetMap - an open and free source of Map Data that has been referred to as ‘Wikipedia for Maps.’ This closely aligns with our goal of making knowledge available in a free and open manner to everyone. This also means we no longer have to use proprietary Google APIs in our code, which helps it run on the millions of cheap Android handsets that are purely open source and do not have the proprietary Google applications.

Wikipedia on the desktop already appears not to use Google Maps.

Do your maps look like everyone else’s? Are you paying high fees just to include maps on your website?

Wonder who that could be referring to?

Switch to OpenStreetMap and discover how you can build beautiful maps from the world’s best map data. We give you the data for free; you can make any map you like with it. Or benefit from the expertise of those already using OpenStreetMap. Host it on your hardware, or elsewhere. You have control. switch2osm.org explains how to make the switch – from first principles to technical how-tos.

OpenStreetMap does produce lovely maps, and they are updated - when it's needed - really quickly. When will a satnav provider use one?

"Google had this to say about the OpenStreetMap incident: 'The two people who made these changes were contractors acting on their own behalf while on the Google network. They are no longer working on Google projects.'

"And a source familiar with Google's actions said the two were terminated because they used Google's network for unauthorized activity, which is against Google's rules, not because of what they actually did on their own initiative."

So yes, they were people working for Google. But they weren't doing this for Google, if that's clear. They weren't "Google-run computers"; they were Google-briefly-employed staff.

"The official blog of Open Street Map reports tonight that someone at a range of Google IP addresses in India has been editing the collaboratively made map of the world in some very unhelpful ways, like moving and deleting information and reversing the direction of one-way streets on the map.

"Google sent the following statement to ReadWriteWeb on Tuesday morning. 'The two people who made these changes were contractors acting on their own behalf while on the Google network. They are no longer working on Google projects.'"

Google's Augean department has been busy again, it seems. What part of "don't be evil" is so hard to understand, whether for staff or a contractor?

Four reasons - including the fact that Google is now charging large users of Maps, but that included a screwup by its sales staff, who didn't know anything about the site. Not a good way to win a sale.

They've switched to OpenStreetMap - so congratulations to Steve Coast.

"I’ve super excited to tell you that I've accepted a position as Principal Architect at Bing Mobile and am moving to the Seattle, Washington area to work on maptastic things! Yay!<br />
"Even better, Microsoft is donating access to its global orthorectified aerial imagery to help OpenStreetMappers make the map even better than it already is."<br />
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This is fantastic news for Steve, and for Bing, and for OpenStreetMap. Congratulations to all - everyone wins from this. Steve Coast's achievements with OpenStreetMap can't be underestimated.